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6 From The West

19 July - 23rd August 2008

Material is transformed by each artist to become a work of art. None of the exhibits depend on the context to define itself as art. Each distinguishes itself as an object through its poetic nature and its very form – a piece of cardboard becomes a beautiful garment and a lump of wax is turned into a vessel.

It was a rather neat coincidence that everything was assembled on International Womens Day (March 8)! But there was no intention on my part to choose only women artists – it turned out that way as I began formulating the shape and concept of the show.

All five were students at Coleg Sir Gar where I teach and knew most through the Printmaking Department.

It’s a wonderful experimental exhibition, put together on a very small budget.

The process started around three years ago after my own exhibition at the Washington Gallery, in Penarth, in 2003 (the Dylan Thomas series).

I arranged to put together a mixed show, The Sea & Its Edge with contributions from painters John Addyman, Tony Turner, Clive McArthy , Robert Alwyn Hughes and the ceramicist Ingrid Murphy: it had a very strong response from the public.

I thought this particularly interesting because it showed art-making that wasn’t exactly going with the current flow, but at the same time wasn’t at all reactionary.

Although I wasn’t intending to be controversial it is important to me to show the greater sweep of contemporary art outside the Turner Prize/White Cube orbit.

Lots of good art is now prone to be obscured by the blockbusters. If you look at current art practice where, even if not intentionally, it’s the sensational and the novel that gets picked up and noticed.

This doesn’t happen exclusively, but it takes attention away from the quieter, more contemplative pieces, and those that draw on an older tradition of making.

In art, I look for the way an artist transforms base materials into something else, rather like the alchemist of old. It’s an art that doesn’t rely for its validity on the Duchamp notion that context defines whether or not it is a work of art - as valuable as that idea is, and has been for much of 20th century art.

In this exhibition shows art practices that rely on a number of different philosophical positions and the influences of artists such as Jasper Johns, Claus Oldenberg and Louise Bourgeois.

No common medium links the five women sculptors but each shows an integrity in the work and a shared sensibility that appeals.

For Deborah Lewis fabric, stone, bronze and haberdashery findings relate to the skills and trades of women in her family though she is also interested in the natural environment, found objects and the world of skateboarders.

Justine Johnson works within the technical disciplines of sculpture, photography, drawing, printmaking and painting. She looks to transform familiar artefacts (or experiences) into objects that transcend their origin.

I selected Ami Marsden because within her works of domestic scenes made from cardboard she shows an element of humour through the memorabilia of family life.

With Sally Greiner – like Justine Johnson, she is also from the US – it is her use of materials and everyday objects which intrigues and delights me. She seems to enjoy giving these materials the opportunity to shine, “in the spotlight of our full intention”.

Louise Bird’s work is a synthesis of scientific theory and current practice. It is based on astronomy and current ideas about the nature of space and time.

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